Are robots lining up to snatch your job? Maybe

Sunday

Jul 13, 2014 at 6:00 AM

By Joyce Lain Kennedy CAREERS NOW

Q: My daughter and son are in high school and it will soon be time for them to anticipate their future careers. What are some of tomorrow's good jobs and which ones are likely to hit the dust bin? — P.H.

A: As technology continues to fire away at work as we know it, routine and mundane tasks of many jobs will disappear. There's no shortage of long-term jobs forecasts, as illustrated by one made last year by two University of Oxford professors, Carl Frey and Michael Osborne: "The Future of Employment: How Susceptible are Jobs to Computerisation?"

The professors believe it's probable that computers could replace humans in 702 occupations in the next 20 years.

Low and high risk: Among occupations they expect to be at the lowest automation risk are social workers, occupational therapists, dentists and elementary schoolteachers. Among those with the highest automation risk, Frey and Osborn identify accountants and auditors, paralegals, patent lawyers and real estate brokers. The saving graces? Humans most likely to escape automation shutdown are those who have creative and social skills.

Research ropers: Search for "obsolete jobs" and "automated jobs" online. But no matter how many exciting possibilities you discover, remember that the best job of all is that of long-term forecaster because you'll be dead before anyone finds out if you were wrong.

Q: I know the job market has improved, but, astonishingly, my nephew, an art history major, has two job offers! One is from a large established company; the other from a new small firm. He's not sure which to accept. If he were your nephew, advice? — N.W.R.

A: Talk about an embarrassment of riches. I'd like to know how your nephew pulled off such a feat. Does he have more than one uncle? A few observations:

•A large company with a stable record offers more security than an innovative newcomer.

•A small company offers faster upward mobility and a chance to obtain company equity.

•A big company may limit your responsibility — and thus experience — to one piece of business.

•A small company may assign you to work across functional lines and meet more corporate goals as opposed to division goals.

•A large company is likely to supply superior training, but a small company is apt to grant more personal latitude to learn from personal experiences.

Q: I have no degree, but have worked as a paraprofessional in my company. At age 36, should I go to college to get a degree and a better job? — Y.R.

A: Solutions to your quandary are more nuanced than they once were, factoring in today's educational innovations such as MOOCs (massive open online courses provided by prestigious universities) and Udacity's NanoDegrees (short online vocational courses of about six to 12 months in a narrow but wanted set of job skills).

You call the shots on your ambition and how you learn. If you do choose to complete a college degree, you'll graduate as an older beginner edging toward 40, competing with younger beginners in their early 20s.

MAKE SMART MOVES

Make yourself more competitive by committing adequate time and energy to master strategies and tactics for effective job search and self-marketing.

Don't go through the front door of the HR department; find side doors to get inside employer companies. Your goal is to dazzle a hiring manager and avoid battling a perception of you as an "older beginner who doesn't have enough of our kind of experience" likely to stop you at HR's door.

DIG A WELL

One facet of your side-door approach is valuing contacts you make at college — faculty, classmates, internships and alumni. Another is renewal of acquaintances with virtually every breathing person you have known during the past 10 years. Reach out to each individual with an informal catch-up theme well before you need the contact.